Gold ingots fall from the sky in Russia

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Moscow - A cargo plane from Kosmos Airlines had a technical problem during take-off, and some of its cargo of 9 tonnes gold was scattered for miles.

On March 16, more than 9 tonnes of gold escaped from an Antonov An-12BP operated by the Russian company Kosmos Airlines, shortly after taking off from the Iatusk airport in Siberia.

A displacement of the cargo apparently caused the cargo door to tear, as the 20-kilo gold ingots began to fall from the plane while the aircraft was gaining altitude. Gold was found scattered over more than 26 kilometers according to the local press near Magan where the Antonov had made an emergency landing. The 172 ingots have been recovered.

The airport stated on its website that the left side of the cargo door had been ripped off, and the workers who performed the loading were employees of Kosmos Airlines.

The gold belongs to Chukotka Mining and Geological (75% owned by Canadian Kinross Gold Corporation), and the value of the cargo is 432 milliın dollars (350 million euros) according to the Siberian Times.